musings from a nomadic miner

Safety First

Safety is a word that get bandied about a fair bit in mining and with good reason- big equipment, big money, long hours, small room for error, masses of responsibility, possibility of maiming/ death if things go wrong etc etc.

And by no means am I saying that people should be getting hurt or that the company shouldn’t be doing everything possible to ensure we go home unhurt. I just think that there is a fine line between the companies responsibility to ensure our safety and a little thing called natural selection.

1. KITCHEN SAFETY

This little beauty is displayed in our lunchroom. Now I truly do not think Im the only one that believes if, as an adult you are unaware a toaster uses heat to toast bread and as such may be hot from time to time that you deserve to get burnt… natural selection

2. BATHROOM SAFETY

Shocking or just plain revolting (or both). You go to the bathroom – you wash your fragging hands?! The end…Really…. I work with woman that do not do this automatically?? *grabbing hand sanitizer*

3. ROAD SAFETY

A road circles camp, this road has a speed limit of 20km/hr- HALF THE SPEED LIMIT OF A SCHOOL ZONE. During some construction we were required to cross this road from time to time. Despite the fact this road has basically no traffic and everyone on site by law has to be 18 or over we were not trusted to cross this road unaided. A lollipop man was employed for the duration to escort us across (approx. 10m) to ensure no one was injured.

Again if you are the type of person that runs the risk of getting run over by car that is travelling 20km on a basically empty road you really shouldn’t be trusted to operate heavy machinery – natural selection.

4. BREAKFAST SAFETY

Self described ‘non morning person’ even at sleepy worst would I be dumb enough to lean on a metal toaster and if you do – natural selection

And the following:

– Listing Chocolate Cake an ‘eat less’ food

– Feeling the need to report to your boss a paper cut as an injury

– Feeling the need to report getting shampoo in your eyes as an injury

-Step by step instructions on how to start the washing machine when there is a button labelled ‘start wash’